Wednesday, April 20, 2011

This year Mr. Easter Bunny will be leaving play dough filled plastic eggs in Cate's basket. He's a clever fellow.

He knows how much she loves her play dough.

You might be thinking it could get a little messy, lots of egg halves with play dough falling out.

It's ok though.

Mr. Easter Bunny knows that I have lots of containers to store that play dough in. He also knows that I'm very good at supervising potentially messy situations. Sometimes it's worth the risk (at least that's what I'm hoping for).

Remember that helpful tip in the kitchen I shared a few months ago? The one about checking your pantry before you go to the store to buy stuff for a new recipe. Same thing applies when you're planning on making your own play dough. Turns out I had these three at home when I was at the store buying another one, even bigger than these. It's ok though. I'm pretty sure cream of tartar doesn't expire.

Here's my recipe. I have no idea who deserves the credit. It's not me. I don't invent recipes. I've had this recipe in my pile for many years. It's written on a sheet taken out of my Franklin planner. Remember those? I loved mine. Green suede with brown leather down the side. I was so cool.

Mix all ingredients together over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture forms a dough. Let the dough cool. Roll into balls, kneading in a little more flour if necessary.

I decided to add a little of my gel food coloring to make brighter colors. A word of caution if you choose to do the same: your hands and counter top might get tinted along with the play dough. Oops.

A few things I like about this recipe:

It's fast.
It's easy.
The play dough smells fruity.
It lasts for a long time without getting gray and yucky and hard.

* * * * * * * * * * *

If I was a super clever crafty party planning mom here's what I'd do.

Plan an Easter egg hunt in my back yard (the grass is long enough that I could just stand on the porch and toss out the eggs and they'd instantly be hidden).

Invite all the neighborhood kids over (there's actually only 3 on my block and for quite a way down the street so I'd have to round up a few more).

The party favor would be a few of these play dough filled eggs, nestled in a little basket with plastic grass (I hate that stuff), a few mini cookie cutters in the shapes of eggs, chicks and bunnies and a kid-sized rolling pin like this one I gave to my nephews at Christmas.

Cute right?

Only in my dreams though.

The reality is that I am not a super clever crafty party planning mom and I like it that way. There will be no egg hunt in my back yard.

Cate will be getting play dough eggs in her basket. Danny's eggs will most likely contain some kind of mini dinosaurs or some other equally tiny doo-dads that the Easter Bunny can find at the party store.

He knows lots of candy is not appreciated around here. Not because I'm a meanie and don't allow it. My kids don't really love it. They prefer gum. I don't love the messy hands and fingers that result in holding the chocolate too long before sticking it in their mouths and then deciding that they don't like it and spitting it in the trash.

That's why play dough eggs work just fine around here.

As I sit here and type, Cate is playing with her play dough right beside me.

Making dreidels (which she calls kites) and putting on her best happy face.